Pilot Callsigns

Callsigns starting with "L"

L/D Max

Larry Danner has a degree in Aerospace Engineering and it has stuck on him for the past 24 years!

Lab Rat

F-16 crew chief at 61FS Luke AFB, Arizona, developed Leukemia fall of 95' but beat it ! Went into remission over the winter and actually returned to the flight line the following fall. Pilots affectionately now call him "Lab rat" because of all the medical procedures he has been through, and the fact nothing seems to fase him.

LAMB

Le Goof

A-7's on USS Kennedy, '76-'77, in the Med - "The French Connection." We had a French exchange pilot, whose wife gave me that in honor of the Disney character, Goofy. My verbal observations of anything and everybody were meant to elicit laughter, and it obviously made a positive impression.

Leathers

During flying training it became apparent early on he was "a complete tool".

Leeker

Caught P'ing off the side of the 3rd story of the Incirlik AB VOQ's during a ONW TDY.

Leeroy

During ACM, '2' decided to go at it alone, and promptly committed fratricide. Hence the homage to Leeroy Jenkins of youtube and warcraft fame. [Ed note: just google "Leeroy Jenkins"]

Lefty

I had a hernia operation. My roommate told everyone the doctor slipped and cut off one of my testicles.

Legend

Failed an exam that no one had ever failed in history

Lego

A few weeks into basic training at the Air Force academy, a competition was held for all the cadets on the parade field (field day). Each cadet was assigned multiple events to compete in and the first event Lego participated in was the "wall climb", a race where cadets run 10 or so yards, jump/climb over an eight foot wall, run 10 or so yards, and return back over the wall. While going over the wall on the return leg, Lego was either pushed, pulled, or simply demonstrated a momentary lapse in his otherwise outstanding athletic ability, and caught his foot on the brace holding up the wall and tumbled to the ground.
Lego attempted to get up to finish the final 5 yard run to the finish line, however, something prevented him from standing up. The grass on the parade field was wet and he kept slipping as he attempted to stand. Feeling no pain - Lego looked around and located the problem. His left shoe had come off and was upside down right next to his right hip. As he picked it up, he noticed that something was not quite right - it was quite heavy... and under further investigation he traced the skin, blood, tendons, etc that were attached to the bottom of his left leg. He was now holding his foot in his hand in front of him. He had been unable to stand because his "nub" on the end of his leg was continually sliding on the wet grass.
What followed was quite comical. Lego did at this point begin to scream in pain holding his now removed foot in his hand. The driver of the ambulance at the parade field became so excited he stalled the ambulance and was unable to get it started. They ended up having to send a second one from the Academy hospital. When the EMT's arrived they attempted to brace Lego's foot. They had to take it from him and somewhat prop it into the bottom of an inflatable brace... where the foot kept falling to the side causing insane pain. The best quote of the day though came when the AF Academy Superintendent, Lt Gen Winfield Scott (Great guy!) came up from behind Lego while he was still lying on the ground holding his foot in his hand. Gen Scott put his hands on Lego's shoulders and asked something to the effect of "What is the matter, Son". Not knowing who was behind him, in intense pain, and shock, Lego replied, "What the F### do you think is wrong, I'm holding my G## D### foot in my hand. Gen Scott was not fazed nor insulted and said, "We'll get you to the hospital here shortly, even if I have to drive you myself".
Lego recovered and went on to graduate and fly F-16's for his entire career. While the callsign remained, it evolved as Lego was continually injured it seemed at every base or TDY he was assigned, and was known to require some sort of random surgery almost annually. He became known as the person built out of Legos, constantly replacing parts with better ones, The name truly fit all the way up until his retirement.

Lemon-Cherry

Lt. Rebecca B. had lemony hair and red cheeks.

Lenny

As far as we know the only vegetarian fighter pilot on planet earth. He was named after the legendary vegetarian shark in "Shark Tale"

Lepper

Things just keep on fallin' off my planes

Lick

One of the greatest name plays ever. Last name Mawhinney.

Lightening

WSOs briefed the weather during flight brief. Listed on sign out board occasionally next to weather was "Lightening FL 200". So this new WSO briefed that lightening was at FL 200. Ok, that was part of the WSO briefings, too. But then he asked me after the brief how the weather man knew there was going to be lightening at only that altitude. I told him that was the name of the tanker refueling track in use and the altitude being used.

Limdu

One of those pilots who didn't do too much around the squadron. Last name was Litto. LIMDU is a common abbreviation for the term "Limited Duty." Just a perfect fit for this gentleman.

Link

Lipo

Little Rod

Loco

Kunsan, January 1985: New guy arrives, no, VOLUNTEERS, to go to the Kun in the dead of winter. Also, commutes to Seoul each week by TRAIN. He's gotta be crazy, right? And travels by locomotive?

Long Distance Duck

I got this nickname because I use the last drop of fuel from my tank. I almost crashed with my F-16 when my wingman had a malfunction - I helped him land and my engine ran out of fuel the second I hit the ground.

Lor

The boys from the Kun greeted me off the bus with a rousing fighter pilot song that had portions outlawed for public consumption by the Wolf. Some were issued desk drawer LORs and hence the call sign...

LOSA

Prounced with long "O" sound "Losa". Means Low SA , Never had a clue what was going on.

Lothar

First British pilot to join the TOPGUN programme. Stands for 'loser of the American Revolution'.

Love Handle

My friends father got his call sign because his friends decided to hide a condom under his pillow. After getting B*****d at by the DI for thirty minutes, he was forced to put the condom on the handle or grip of every gun he fired. (Hence the name)

Lude

This dude was extremely slow. We were convinced he was on a 24 hour supply of qualudes.

Lumpy

When I was a kid I fell off my bike and badly seperated my left shoulder, so now my collarbone sticks out noticably.

Lunchbox

While running missions in the Anbar Province of Iraq, I was constantly stuck in an unarmed ECW humvee as Truck Commander. After one long and boring mission (in excess of 14 hours straight driving in 140 degree heat), during a rant against my current plight, I said that if you connected the two short antennas on the roof with a 2x4 it would look like the handle of a lunchbox. The name stuck.